10 Surprising Facts About Black Panther

Black Panther is more than an adventure story. If you want to know how a seemingly average Marvel flick goes from super-powered fun to industry-rattling movement, these facts from the making of the film might shed a little light on things.

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1. MICHAEL B. JORDAN STUDIED GREAT REBELS TO PLAY KILLMONGER
Michael B. Jordan took his antagonist role extremely seriously. He avoided hanging out with the rest of the cast to prevent over-familiarity with the heroes, and studied famous rebels like Malcolm X, and Tupac Shakur.

2. DIVERSIFYING THE TRIBES
The tribes of Black Panther were each crafted to evoke the African animals. That Jabari tribe are represented by gorillas, the Border tribe by the rhino, the crocodiles, the lions… They also incorporated real African dialects from across the continent.

3. MARTIN FREEMAN’S THOUGHTS ABOUT BEING THE ‘MINORITY’
Black Panther has a primarily black cast . When actor Martin Freeman was asked about being one of the non-black actors on set, he replied, “You think, ‘Right, this is what black actors feel like all the time?’”.

4. THE WAKANDANS ARE SPEAKING A REAL LANGUAGE
According to Danai Gurira, the actress who plays General Okoye, T’Challa’s Golden tribe are speaking a real African language. It’s called Xhosa, and it’s the native tongue of iconic world leader Nelson Mandela.

5. WESLEY SNIPES WAS ALMOST BLACK PANTHER
Before Blade, he tried to launch a Black Panther movie in the 1990s. But the director left when Snipes insisted that it had to take place in Wakanda as he wanted it to be in America.

6. FOREST AND DENZEL WHITAKER, SAME CHARACTER, NO RELATION
In a flashback in the film, Forest Whitaker’s court advisor, Zuri, is played by Denzel Whitaker. Though they look alike and share a surname, the two actors aren’t related in any way. Unlike the older version, they played father and son.

7. THE HOMAGE TO AN HISTORICAL WARRIOR
At one point in the movie, Killmonger breaks a spear in half to use it as a stabbing weapon. This move was a tribute to the famous African general Shaka Zulu, the man who invented the weapon in question, known as the iklwa.

8. TAKING THINGS BACK HOME
In Black Panther, there are only two moments when the film takes its characters outside Wakanda. One of the locations is Korea; the other is Oakland (the director’s birthplace).

9. THE REAL LIFE WAKANDA
While Black Panther’s Korean scenes were shot in South Korea, all the Wakanda scenes were shot in Atlanta. In fact, when Killmonger robs an artifact from a London collection, they’re standing in Atlanta’s High Museum of Art.

10. THE SITCOM CIA AGENT
Martin Freeman’s Everett Ross is inspired by two famous sitcom characters. His straight-laced conservative side is courtesy of Family Ties’ Alex P Keaton, and his awkward comedic timing comes courtesy of Friends’ Chandler Bing.

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Justin AndressMay 8, 2018

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